1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a hood closure guide and seal for an off road work vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Backhoe loaders are common work vehicles. These vehicles are provided with a front mounted loader and a rear mounted backhoe. The lift arms of the loader are pivotally mounted to a mast extending upwardly from the supporting structure of the vehicle. A hood covering an internal combustion engine is located in front of the mast. The hood is made of sheet metal or plastic. With tilting hoods a gap is sometimes present between the mast and the hood. This gap is unsightly and allows noise, heat and contaminants to escape from the engine compartment. One method of sealing this gap is to use a foam and/or rubber gasket material. Although these materials may solve this problem for a period of time, the rubbing action of the hood causes these seals to fail prematurely. In addition, these gasket type seals do not provide stability to the plastic hoods.
The hood of a work vehicle is pivotally mounted to the supporting structure adjacent to a mast. The mast extends vertically upward form the supporting structure of the work vehicle. A work implement is operatively coupled to the mast. The mast is provided with left and right mast side walls. The interior of each of the side walls is provided with a guide and seal having a V-shaped cross section. The hood is provided with left and right side walls having left and right rear edges. The left and right rear edges are offset inwardly from the hood side walls. When the hood is closed, the left and right rear edges engage the left and right guides, wedging the edges into the V-shaped cross section. The guide thereby provides a seal between the hood and the mast while also providing stability for the hood side walls.
The base of each guide is provided with a tapered block. The tapered blocks are designed to engage a Z-bracket. The Z-bracket is located on the bottom corners of the hood side walls. This tapered block/Z-bracket engagement provides additional stability for the hood side walls.